As Jack entered the room, the Doctor looked up. His eyes were tear rimmed and his face was a mask of pain. Jack sat on the bed next to the Doctor. He held the Doctor to him, in a similar fashion to the way he held his own brother back home. They stayed in that position for a while, before Jack spoke.
"So… d'you wanna tell me what happened? One minute your fine and dandy, and now look at you!" Jack asked, his voice calming, and at the same time trying to get a smile out of the Doctor.
"Why did you do it Jack?" the Doctor replied, in the tone of one who was utterly depressed, his northern accent thickening in his distress.
"I thought you two would sort out your differences, ya'know and then practice your 'dancing'. I swear I didn't think it would backfire the way it did. I just hoped you'd say you're sorry to each other. I'm sorry…"
"We did. She said she was sorry. I said I was sorry. Then it was like when we first arrived on Raxacoricofallapatorius, when she first kissed me… Oh gods, what am I going to do?"
"Take it easy, and relax, that's what. Don't worry, we'll sort this out." Jack knew that it would take a while for the Doctor a while to open up and admit that he was in love with Rose. So far, he was still sticking to the story of merely fancying her. But saying that, he still needed to know what he had to do. "Just tell her how you feel!"
"I tried! I did! I didn't tell her but I was going to show her… I went to kiss her and… and she said that we should just pretend to love each other! I don't get it! Why only pretend?" He stopped here, hurt showing in his eyes. "She doesn't love me. How could she?"
Jack held the Doctor as ha sobbed.
After a while, the Doctor sat up straighter, and wiped his eyes. Jack could see bags under his eyes as though he hadn't slept in a while. He knew that the Doctor wasn't a big sleeper. That much was obvious when they were in Cardiff with 'Margaret' the Slitheen. They'd just got off the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius and both he and Rose were shattered but the Doctor decided to do some shopping and filled their stocks on the essentials like tea bags and milk. He'd been heard complaining well into the night about the TARDIS not having room to keep a cow desptie it's vastness.
Jack thought that there was no better way to deal with a subject than head-on, and decided to broach this one as bluntly as possible.
"So, how d'you feel? And I don't just mean about this situation, I also mean about Rose."
The Doctor looked at Jack for a minute before looking down at his hands. He had been worrying them without even noticing. He stilled them. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he realised that he had picked that habit up from Rose.
"What's there to say? She was right! My people didn't like me! I was a rebel in a straight-jacket and tie community." The Doctor sighed, wondering how to say this next bit. He hadn't properly admitted it to himself until he realised how hurt he was after his argument with Rose.
"Go on, Doctor." Jack encouraged.
"Well, erm, you know when I said I fancied Rose?" The Doctor asked, taking Jack's nod as affirmative. "Well the thing is I lied! I don't fancy her, not at all…"
The Doctor noticed that Jack's eyes had gone wide, and indignant. He noticed that in the space of that one sentence Jack had gone from understanding to angry, and the he was about to speak. Befo0re he could get a word out though, the Doctor interrupted him.
"I'm madly in love with her. I can't stand it when she's with Mickey or someone else, because I want to be who she's with! Every time I see her I want to either jump her or hug her and be near her. I know it's stupid and impossible, but I find myself wanting to grow old with her and live with her for the rest of eternity. I want to show how I feel or to tell her, but I'm so scared. I love her too much to even take the risk of her walking out on me and going home. What's worse than anything is the knowledge that she'll never see me that way and never love me the way I love her!"
"So, um, you really love her?" Jack asked, he had to get him to admit it to Rose.
"Yup!" The Doctor replied, a little sadness seeping into his voice. "I'm officially in love with Rose Tyler, the most beautiful being in time and space - and believe me, I've met Aphrodite! Typical me, eh? Fall in love with someone 9 centuries younger who'd never look at me twice!"
Jack knew there wasn't much point in argueing, but he still felt that he should at least try to make the Doctor see reason.
"How do you know she doesn't love you if you don't tell her?" he asked.
"I can just tell, alright?" The Doctor replied. "I think I just need some space, okay?"
"Okay!" Jack sighed, walking out of the room…
… And smack bang into Rose, who had tears streaming down her eyes.
A/N: Sorry! I know I said I'd get back to you at the end of June but my computer crashed! Next chapter should be up soon though!
I'm really sorry about the author's note, and promise not to do that again.
Also I'm looking for a BETA, so my chapters will actually look good grammatically and all be in the same tense.
Wear-bear has gone on a permanent holiday after eating my foot. She couldn't stand the stench and nearly died of food (or is it foot?) poisoning!
